


Where does Dust go?

by ERROR404CANNOTFUNCTION



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, Do not repost, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Papyrus descends into madess, Papyrus is looking for his bro, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma, Self-Harm, Suicide, Suicide Notes, You are Sans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-02 11:59:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19198348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ERROR404CANNOTFUNCTION/pseuds/ERROR404CANNOTFUNCTION
Summary: Hey, where are you? It's 6:15 pm and I can't find you.(Or Papyrus goes looking for Sans)





	1. Where are you?

It was 6:10 pm. I hadn’t seen you all day, where could you have gone?

“SANS? ARE YOU BEING A LAZYBONES AGAIN!!?” I had called through the door, hoping to hear something, anything from the occupant. 

I didn’t want to open the door. . . I couldn’t handle seeing that again. . .

I scratched my skull as I debated back and forth with myself. Of course, I had to open the door at some point, but sensing the stillness in your room, I decided to look elsewhere first.

That was my mistake, wasn’t it? Not the first one, but a mistake all the same.

I asked Grillby if he had seen you, but he said no, not at all that week.   
I questioned Undyne, but you hadn’t shown up for your sentry shifts today.   
I investigated with Alphys, but you weren’t on any of her cameras.   
Mettaton had been filming all day.   
Monster Kid was grounded.   
The Shop and Inn Keeping sisters hadn’t heard anything.   
The Rocks were baffled.   
Ice Wolf was busy.   
The Door Woman was silent.   
The Dogs couldn’t catch your scent anywhere.   
Heats Flamesman was just surprised I remembered his name.   
Asgore said you missed afternoon tea and your Judge meeting.   
The Royal Guardsmen said they would keep an eye out for you.   
Nice Cream Man couldn’t remember the last time you bought from him.   
Burgerpants hadn’t left the shop all month. 

Did you know you missed your Comedy Special last week? Snowdrake's entire family misses your awful puns. 

Anxiety built in my ribcage, gripping my Soul like a vice that squeezed harder every time I got a negative answer to my question of your whereabouts.   
Even with the pain building, that hollow feeling in my bones growing ever stronger, I still couldn’t muster up the courage to enter your bedroom.

Pathetic, aren’t I?

As a last ditch effort, I even went through all of Waterfall, listening to the Echo Flowers. I found your favorite resting spot, the one with the little Quiche hidden beneath the bench. I sat down and touched a petal of the flower to hear you lament about responsibility again but. . .

“I- *sob- hickhick* I just can’t do it anymore. Why? Why can’t I just be satisfied with my life?” I remember slamming ramrod straight, reaching for another petal, my Soul cracking at the agony in your voice.

“That weird feeling is back. I keep smiling, because... What else can I do? Alphys is asking questions again. If my medication is working again. She’s doing her best. I can’t drag anyone down with me. I just have to keep smiling. No one can know it’s back. Because it never left.”

I can faintly recognize the sound of my own bones rattling, my entire body quivering as I move from petal to petal. Your voice got emptier and emptier. Until it was flat enough to mistake for a monotone beep from a computer. I gently caressed the final petal, static filling my skull and numbing me to what I knew I would hear but was so afraid to.

“I know I have always been this way. I don’t need the pills anymore. It’s all useless to me. Uh, hey whoever finds this, My bro is pretty cool. You should totally go check out his puzzles. He really deserves friends. I would introduce you, but I don’t think I’ll be around when you listen to this. So just look for the super cool Skele with a ton of puzzles and you’ll be in the right area. He’s the only skeleton around, so he might be kinda lonely and I-” 

“No no no no no no n-” My voice broke as I ran as fast as I could. Screaming your name. I must have looked positively insane to others I passed by. Shadows grew longer and darker, taunting me from the sidelines. 

“It’s your fault, isn’t it?” they cackle and call to me.

I couldn’t handle that room because I remember walking in while you were changing. You were so ashamed of those little chips in your bone. The long and short wounds that covered every centimeter of your form, crossing over each other with an intent I hadn’t considered before. I was so shocked. Convinced I could fix it. Fix YOU. But. .. Was there ever something to fix, Brother? 

We could have talked more, instead of entrusting you to Alphys. If you had the medication, I didn’t think I had to do anything. It was like a cold. Just some pills and a few days rest. I was so scared to look at you, afraid of seeing something you didn’t want me to see. Afraid of the questions in my skull, circling until I was dizzy from the whirlpool of confusion and fear.

I should’ve just opened the door in the first place. Then you wouldn’t have had time to tick off that last .000000000001% of health holding you here with me.

But I didn’t.

I finally open the door to your mess of a room. I numbly note that you used to clean it, tried to again after you started taking the pills. I step over ketchup bottles and onto clothes and collapse next to your bed, right next to a pair of slippers. The sudden movement of air moving the dust painting the bed where your outfit sat. The dull knife sitting in your hoodie, right over where your sternum should've been.

The choked gasps I make crescendo into screams. I can’t stop. Howling as the room darkened and almost completely disappeared along with my eye lights. My vision filled with that soft white dust. Dust wasn't the right term, it was more like sand. almost sparkling in the bedrooms light. My sharp phalanges dig into my eye sockets and curl into my jaw, searching for something solid to stabilize me. My voice cracks and the screaming is unbearable. I can’t stop. Can’t stop. Can’t stop can’t stop ca-

I hear sobbing. I feel hands on me. People gasping for air an- oh. That’s me. Greedily gulping up the air that should’ve been yours. Breathing as you should be.

It’s 12:42 in the morning. I know exactly where you are.


	2. Sans and I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne Finds Papyrus.

It was a few days before she worked up the courage to go into that house again. Last time Undyne had walked in, it was to retrieve Papyrus for training, but all she heard was the sound of heart-wrenching screams. Sobbing had echoed through the once warm home. Papyrus had collapsed next to his brothers' bed. He had been there, alone and screaming for help, long enough that his bones actually creaked and groaned when he turned towards the sound of an intruder. The sound seeping from his wide jaw cut off abruptly, leaving the house silent in the wake of his devastation.

“Undyne.” His voice was hoarse and monotone. You could have mistaken his voice for that of a phones dial tone. “I assume you are here to see Sans and I. I do not have the time for you at this moment. Please return again in a few days time.”

Undyne hesitated, her signature grin long gone since entering the building. She felt as though ice had encased the room. Chilling her skin and making the instinct to run that much stronger. Shivers running up and down her back, she tentatively stepped forward, eyeing the empty bed.

“Paps, what do you mean ‘Sans and I’? There’s no one here buddy. Now, if you’re looking for Sans, I can help you find him. I know you were looking everywhere the other day, but the-” A row of bone spikes shot up from the floor, not unlike Undyne’s own spears. The bones were not rounded as usual, they were broken and sharp, laced with red energy. They shifted towards her, making her back out of the room if she didn’t want to be impaled.

Papyrus finally raised his head, causing Undyne to gasp and back away even further.

Deep long cuts marred the once smooth expanse of his skull. Furrows created by his own hands ran up and down each side of his face, chipping away bone shards and leaking marrow. Jagged wounds ran from inside his sockets, down into his jaw with enough force that cracks had appeared, spreading from the wounds to the rest of the once unblemished bone. His eye sockets were empty and emotionless as he uttered one final word, causing Undyne to flee.

“L e a v e .”

She never felt such emptiness from a monster before, not without them falling down in literal seconds. Undyne needed help. Needed some help from someone who had been studying monsters for years. She needed Alphys.

Standing in front of the door, days later, she understood. Alphys had admitted that Sans had been missing for so long, she was worried enough to use her Finding System. It was a machine that sent out a pulse of magic through the entire underground, from the Ruins to the Throne Room. It sent in data on the locations and magic of every being it found. The only one it hadn’t found was Sans. His Judgement Magic was nowhere in the underground. The last traces the machine had picked up were in his home, several days old. She remembered the snowy dust on Sans’ bed that covered an old outfit. The sound of gut-wrenching screams. There was no longer room to doubt.

Undyne made her report known to Asgore. Sans had died, fallen down in his home. All that was left was to retrieve the Dust for a funeral befitting a Judge of the Kingdom.

She finally took a deep breath and knocked for once, fearing the answer. The door opened before her, Papyrus stood there, the marks on his face making for a grisly image as he smiled.

“Why Hello! Undyne, It Is Wonderful To See You! I Must Apologise for Myself The Other Day, I Was Slightly Out Of Sorts When I Couldn’t Find Sans! You Are Actually In Time For Dinner! I Knew You Would Come Today So I Made Fresh Spaghetti, Just As An Apology!” While talking, Papyrus opened the door wider to let Undyne through. As it shut behind her, Undyne looked around. All the lights in the home where on, the smell of burning noodles and fresh tomatoes permeated the entire building. Undyne was filled with confusion. ‘Was Sans alive? But, how? Did Alphys’ machine end up malfunctioning and missing Sans Magic?’ She took a peek at Papyrus as he moved about the kitchen. ‘No. .’

He was wearing sweatpants and an orange hoodie under his chef apron. Almost the image of relaxation as he cooked. 

Almost. 

His eye lights were still snuffed out, the bone underneath his sockets discolored from crying and no sleep. The blackness lurking in his sockets almost had a life-like quality to them. Like shadows shifting back and forth as he went about his current task. Almost like a moving static, his eye lights were flickering deep within, too fast to keep track of. 

Papyrus set the table. Dinner was served.

“Thank You For Visiting Today. I Realize How Unthinkable It Is That I Would Attack A Friend. I Do Hope You Forgive Me.” Papyrus smiled, the static in his sockets flickering faster.

“I really don’t mind, dude. You are very forgiven! What kind of friend would I be to hold a grudge, huh? But, in all seriousness. Did you find Sans? I was convinced he had fallen down an-” A raspy chuckle sounded from the other side of the table. His eye lights utterly snuffed out, no more flickering. Undyne felt a deep fear she hadn’t experienced since her first time encountering the barrier. An old and wise instinct told her that she needed to leave. She didn’t need to know the reason for his laughter. But she refused. This is Papyrus for Asgore’s Sake! He could hurt-

Papyrus reached into his own rib cage and pulled out a very small light blue pouch.

“I Assume You Were Here To Gather Him For His Funeral. The Spreading Of His Dust On His Favorite Thing In The Underground.” Undyne mutely nodded her head. “Ah, Yes. See. There’s No Reason For A Funeral. He Is Already With His Favorite. I Will Make Sure He Never Leaves Again.” Papyrus slowly opened the pouch and reached one boney digit in. He pulled it out, covered in a white film as he opened his jaw. A long red appendage flicked out and wrapped around the bones, licking off every bit of Dust.

Undyne fell to the ground as she attempted to flee, watching in horror as Papyrus continued to devour what was left of his Brothers Dust. As she backed away and finally fled from the house all she could hear where his last words. Echoing after her and haunting her.

“After All, He Loved Me Very Much.”


End file.
